July 2017

Google updates it policies on pop-up and pop-under ads

Google recently clarified its policies around pop-ups and pop-unders. In a blog post, it stated ‘’to get your attention some ads pop up in front of your current browser window, obscuring the content you want to see. Pop-under ads can be annoying as well, as they will ‘’pop under’’ your window so that you don’t see them until you minimise your browser. We do not believe these ads provide a good user experience and therefore ate not suitable for Google ads.’’

Taking action on this, Google will no longer permit the placement of Google ads on pages that are loaded as a pop-up or pop-under. It will also not allow Google ads on any site that contains or triggers pop-unders.

Ads in pop-up and pop-under windows: Publishers are not permitted to place Google ads in any window that is not initiated by an intentional user interaction (e.g. click). Additionally, Google ads may not be placed in any web browser window that lacks navigational controls, including back and forward browse buttons, and an editable URL field.

Ads on a site with pop-ups or pop-unders: Publishers are not permitted to place Google Ads which have more than three pop-ups. If pop-ups are displayed on a site, they may not interfere with site navigation, change user preferences, initiate downloads, or distribute viruses.

Publishers are not permitted to place Google ads on sites that contain trigger pop-unders.

Additionally, sites using AdSense may not be loaded by any software that triggers pop-ups, modifies browser settings, redirects users to unwanted sites, or otherwise interferes with normal site navigation. It is your responsibility to ensure that no ad network or affiliates use such methods to direct traffic to pages that contain your AdSense code.

Popular content search results snippet added by Bing

Bing has added a new ‘’Popular Content’’ box to it search results page. Carousel-like in design, this feature shows a searcher popular content sections from the website or web page being searched for.

Videos and recipes now showing in Google image search

Google image search now displays video and recipes. Earlier this year, Google experimented with displaying videos in the image search results. Now it seems they’ve rolled it out completely.

According to Google, this update is derived from newly supported schema around your images. In the video schema page, Google added ‘’Your video rich results can also display in image search on mobile devices, providing users with useful information about your video.’’

Google has added new filters to the search appearance tab in the Google Search Analytics report for job listings. This means if you’ve got job listings on your website, you can filter your Search Analytics report to see what traffic, impressions, and clicks those listings are bringing to your website.

To use this new feature, simply go to the ‘’search appearance’’ section in the Search Analytics report and there you’ll be able to filter the report by job listings or job details.

Google Posts removed after 7 days

Google confirmed to Search Engine Land that most Google Posts are removed seven days after they are first published. According to the post, there is one exception to this rule; posts which discuss upcoming events, these posts are removed after the event date.

A Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land ‘’Posts enable merchants to share timely, relevant updates on Google Search and Maps. To ensure that posts are timely, they’re removed from the default view after seven days (or when the event date the post referenced has passed). However, a historical view of posts is shown under the Posts tab on mobile.

What does this mean for publishers?

It’s important that businesses maintain their posts, keeping them up to date with fresh content and messages.

Restaurants’ local panel gets a menu tab

Google has added a new tab to local panel for many restaurants. This new feature displays items from the restaurant’s menu (if Google is able to pick them out).

Crowdsourcing will be used by Google Maps to identify wheelchair-accessible locations

A new editing feature has been rolled out by Google Maps which allows anyone to add details on whether or not a place is wheelchair-accessible.

On the Google Maps blog, product managers Shiva Thiagarajan and Rio Akasaka advise on how to make the necessary changes.

When you want to share accessibility information about a place or add details about many places quickly, just open Google Maps on Android, open the main menu, and then tap ‘’Your Contributions’’. Tap ‘’Uncover missing info’’ and sort by ‘’Accessibility’’ to find places around you that are missing this kind of information so you can start filling it in. You can also sort by different categories in case you have other information to add as well.

According to Google, to find out whether a place is wheelchair accessible, find the place on Google Maps, desktop or mobile, open the business listing, tap the two-line description, and then scroll down to the accessibility section.

News-Feed like ads in Messenger being tested globally by Facebook

Facebook announced that messenger ads are going global. In a blog post on this, the company said ‘’After promising tests in Australia and Thailand, we’re expanding the beta further. We’ll now offer businesses around the world a way to use Facebook targeting to extend their reach to people in Messenger.’’

For businesses, this is a huge update as businesses of every size can pop big ads in the message feeds of the app’s 1.2 billion monthly users.

Facebook announces tests for Instant Article subscriptions will begin as soon as October

Facebook’s head of news partnerships team, Campbell Brown confirmed that Facebook plans to start testing a way for publications to put their Instant Articles behind a metered paywall and sell subscriptions through the social network.

On behalf of Brown, a spokesperson said ‘’we are in early talks with several news publishers about how we might better support subscription business models on Facebook. As part of the Facebook Journalism Project, we are taking the time to work closely together with our partners and understand their needs.

As reported by Digiday, Facebook has been meeting with publications about this project. In the report, a senior executive at The New York Times said ‘’we’ve been briefed and are continuing to evaluate if we’re going to participate.’’

Instagram introduces new tools for businesses

Instagram announced two new tools to help keep the platform a ‘’safe place for businesses to express themselves and share their stories with the world.’’ These updates included:

Blocking offensive comments: The team at Instagram have developed a filter that will block certain offensive comments on posts and live video. All other comments will appear as they normally do and it is still possible to report, delete and turn off comments.

Reducing spam in comments: The spam filter looks for any obvious spam in comments, blocking it from posts and live videos. The filter will remove spam written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, German, Russian, Japanese and Chinese.

5 reasons to create content outside your niche

In this post, Andrea Lehr (brand relationship strategist at content marketing agency Fracti), outlines the reasons content creators should look to creating content outside your niche. She writes ‘’If you’re in a niche vertical that doesn’t have wide appeal on its own, exploring ideas outside of your core focus is a surefire way to reach a much larger audience.’’ Read the full post here.

The dos and don’ts of controversial marketing

In this post, Contently outline the tactics to use when working with controversial marketing. Read the full post here.

Learning to use content management martech is biggest educational need for marketers

In this post, Marketing Land discuss the results from Content Marketing Institute’s latest survey which revealed that learning how to better use their content management marketing technology is posing a significant challenge for marketers. Read the full post here.

6 ways to mess up collaborating with content marketing freelancers

In this post, Content Marketing Institute discuss working with freelancers, the type of things that can go wrong and tips on how to improve the working relationship. Read the full post here

How Adidas creates moments of relevance

In this post, Frank Thomas who leads the content marketing team at Adidas’ Corporate Communications departments, discusses the company’s content strategy and how they create ‘moments of relevance’. Read the full post here.

GDPR is a chance to rethink how we view privacy

In this post, Silicon Republic chat to IBM’s chief privacy officer, Cristina Cabella about GDPR and the impact it will have on businesses and their operations.

Marketers: 14 opportunities to make our content efforts more scalable

In this post, Content Marketing Institute dig into the results from their Content Management & Strategy Survey and outline opportunities for marketers to ‘’truly manage their content as a business asset.’’ Read the full post here.

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